Wine Lister says goodbye to 2020, ranking the performances of wine brands: a lot of Italians at top

More than just saying good-bye to 2020, we would like to sweep it away and forget it. Yet, the wine world, even through the challenges it faced, has continued to look ahead, produce, sell, and give away small joys and bottles meant for rediscovery, and enjoyment tomorrow, too. The Wine Lister portal https://www.wine-lister.com/reportbyid/16/en/false decided to celebrate the wine companies and producers that did not give up anything in terms of quality, with seven different lists measuring performances of the wine brands in as many categories. The ranking was limited to the great wines from the top territories in the world, including Burgundy, Bordeaux, Piedmont, Tuscany, Alsace, Germany, Spain and the New World. The first list was dedicated to “Quality Consistency”; that is, taking into consideration the last twenty vintages, of the top wines for average quality, which have undergone the fewest deviations in terms of scores, with three Italian wines: Barolo Monfortino Riserva di Giacomo Conterno in position number 6, Elio Altare's Barolo Brunate at number 18 and Sangiovese Soldera - Case Basse, one of the symbolic wines of Montalcino, at number 19. The first three places, instead, went to a trio of Burgundy wines: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti and Leroy Chambertin. The “Biggest Movers”, is the ranking dedicated to the wines that climbed the highest number of positions in the ranking of online searches, over the period from January to November 2020. Brunello di Montalcino de Il Poggione came in at second place, today in position number 89. Barolo by Bartolo Mascarello, which climbed up to position no. 48 of the most searched wines on Wine-Searcher. The “Hidden Gems” are those undervalued or off-the-radar wines that are not very popular online, but critics really like; in other words, hidden treasures. It is not a real ranking but rather a selection, which includes: Renato Corino’s Barolo Arborina, Subimano's Barbaresco Riserva and Montefili’s Vecchia Terre Amphitheater.
“Value Picks” are those wines that can boast the best quality / price ratio. Also for this category, it is a selection, not a ranking, of bottles to be bought for drinking, and not to be kept in the cellar. There are two Italian wines, both from Piedmont: Barbaresco Valeirano de La Spinetta (Rivetti) and Barbaresco Tulin di Pelissero. The “Buzz Brands”, instead, are wines that are on the crest of the wave, sought after, on the wine lists, popular, even coveted - truly wine icons. This is the ranking where we find some of the topmost brands of Italian wine, including, again, Barolo Monfortino Riserva by Giacomo Conterno, together with Masseto, Sassicaia by Tenuta San Guido and Tignanello di Antinori. These four wines are in a very small club of only ten members, and the others are Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche from Burgundy, Canon, Chateau Lafite and Chateau Mouton Rothschild from Bordeaux, Opus One from California and the Unico from Bodegas Vega- Sicily from Spain.
For those who, instead of drinking wines would rather collect them, essentially as a form of investment, there is the category, “Investment Staples”, considering aging and guaranteeing investment stability. In this case, the selection consist in just ten bottles, four of which are Italian: Barbaresco di Gaja, Barolo Monfortino Riserva by Giacomo Conterno, Solaia by Antinori and Sassicaia by Tenuta San Guido. Finally, you can give your imagination free rein with a selection of 21 wines to bring to 2021 from which, ideally, to start up again, in the “21 Ultimate Must Buys for 2021”. Among the bottles of wine that must not be missed are Barbaresco Sorì Tildìn 2004 by Gaja, Barolo Brunate 2010 by Giuseppe Rinaldi, Brunello di Montalcino 2007 by La Cerbaiona and Sangiovese 2008 Case Basse - Soldera.